Developing innovations calls for the spending of a lot of money in research and development.
Thus, that sector that was one of the leading trades to invest in despite the Great Recession. In a report by Booz & Company, a consulting firm, five or the world’s top 20 spenders on research and development were automakers.
The report shows that automakers and auto parts suppliers account for 8 percent of the Global Innovation 1000, but spent 16 percent of the total in R&D.
Toyota invested the most in R&D for the third year in a row. Its total investment was $9 billion in 2008. Top spender in R&D among parts suppliers was Toyota affiliate Denso Corp. It spent $3 billion on R&D which accounts for 9.5 percent of its sales.
Ford spent $7.3 billion or 5 percent of its sales. Honda spent $5.6 billion, or 5.6 percent of its sales, the highest proportion of any major automaker.
General Motors came in second among automakers and fifth on the list as a whole. It spent $8 billion in R&D last year. But it spent a greater percent of its revenue on R&D than Toyota -- 5.4 percent to 4.4 percent.
The industry, as a whole, increased its investment when it spent $86 billion in R&D.
http://detnews.com/article/20091101/AUTO01/911010304/1148/auto01/Auto-sector-ranks-high-in-research-spending